Hold open devices for double acting swinging doors



April 7, 1959 FRQHLICH 2,880,449

HOLD OPEN DEVICES FOR DOUBLE ACTING SWINGING DOOIQS Filed Sept. 24, 1956 WWII/J mull/1111A A .nllllllll" INVENTOR I Q flam-fia/zlz'clz BY M fill: ATTORNEY United States PatentO "ice HOLD OPEN DEVICES FOR DOUBLE ACTING SWINGING DOORS Hans Frohlich, New York, N.Y., assignor to Bummer.

Spring Hinge Co., Inc., Landrum, S.C., a corporation of New York This invention relates to a hold open device for swinging doors, and more particularly to a device of this character combined with checking floor hinges for double acting swinging doors.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a mechanism which holds open a double acting swinging door at about a right angle in either direction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of the above character including simple means for releasing an open swinging door so that the latter may be closed automatically by the checking floor hinge when desired.

A further object of the invention is to providea hold open device for double acting swinging doors which is fully received in the housing of the fioor hinge. The invention resides essentially in the combination and arrangement of various parts including a double acting keeper which rotates with the main spindle of the floor hinge, a roller resiliently mounted in thepath of the rotating keeper, and a spring actuated hook member which is adapted to engage the roller and hold it away from the path of the keeper. The hook is controlled by. an exterior lever, but all the remaining elements of thehold open device are received in the housing of the floor hinge.

Various other features and attributes of the novel hold open device will become apparent in the course of the following description of two preferred embodiments which are illustrated inthe accompanying adrawing, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the appended claims. i

The the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a checking floor hinge for double acting swingingdoors, with certain elements of the hold open'device indicated'in dotted lines;'

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the hold open device;

Fig. 3 is a partly sectional view in side elevation of the hold open device with the keeper in operative position;

Fig. 4 illustrates one form of control mechanism for inactivating the hold open device, the external control lever being omitted in this view; and

Fig. 5 shows a modification of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the checking floor hinge includes a housing having a cover plate 11 through which extends the end of main spindle 12. The spindle 12 carries an arm 13, attached thereto by means of a screw 14. The arm 13 is also connected to the double acting swinging door (not shown) and since it cannot rotate on the spindle, the spring mechanism in the housing 10 normally holds the arm 13 with the swinging door in the position shown in full lines. When the swinging door is pushed to the right or to the left, the arm 13 follows such movement in the direction of arrows 15, 16, respectively, to assume either of the two extreme positions 13, 13", shown in Fig. 1 in dot-dash lines. This structure is known in the art and does not form part of my present invention.

' 24 or the like.

2,880,449 Patented Apr. 7, 1959 The novel hold open device includes a flat keeper 17 which is rigidly attached to the spindle 12 in the housing 10 to rotate therewith into either of its dot-dash positions 17, 17", as is shown in Fig. 2. The keeper 17 remains in its position shown in full lines when the double acting swinging door is held closed by the mechanism in the housing 10. When the keeper is in the position 17', the arm 13 with the swinging door is moved in the direction of arrow 15, and on pivoting of arm 13 into itsposition 13" in the direction of arrow 16, the keeper will assume the position17.

- Spaced from the keeper 17 within the housing 10 is a roller 18, mounted on a shaft 19 between two flanges 21, 22 of a yoke attached to the end of a short rod 20 whose other end is threaded, as at 23, to receive a nut The assembly of roller 18 and rod 20 with flanges 21, 22 is slidably inserted into a frame consisting of an upper plate 25, a lower plate 26, a rear end plate 27 having an opening 28 for the passage of rod 20, and a front end plate 29 with a suitable cutout 30 permitting reciprocal movement of the flanges 21, 22 with roller 18 therebetween. In the frame, there is a coil spring 31 coaxially surrounding the rod 20 between flanges 21, 22 and rear end plate 27 for permanently urging the roller 18 toward the keeper 17 to the extent permitted by nut 24.

The'operation of the hold open device is as follows:

When the spindle 12 rotates in clockwise direction, the keeper 17 pivots in the direction of arrow 32" and its inclined surface 33 comes into contact with the roller 18. On continued rotation of the spindle, the roller is pushed into the frame against the resistance of spring 31 so that the apex 34 of the keeper 17 may pass over the roller. If the swinging door which rotates the spindle in the indicated direction is then released, the keeper 17 bears against the roller with its surface 35, but the force of spring 31 is suflicient to prevent roller 18 from sliding into the frame so that the apex 34 cannot pass thereover and the swinging door remains open. This position of the keeper is shown in Fig. 2 at 17".

- against the surface 38 which is substantially parallel with the direction of reciprocal movement of the roller.

If it is desired to close the swinging door, it is pushed in either direction opposed to arrows 15, 16 (see Fig. 1), so that the combination force of the hinge mechanism and of the person pushing the swinging door causes spring 31 to yield, whereupon either of apices 34, 37 passes over the roller and the hinge mechanism alone then returns the keeper into its position shown in full lines.

This hold open position is used when supplies are continuously moved through the doors. When it is advantageous to close the door permanently, for example, if the door is not often used through a certain period of time, the hold open device can be put out of action. For this purpose, the upper flange 21 carries a short pin 39 which may be engaged by the book 40. The latter is pivotally attached at 41 to the upper plate 25 of the roller frame, as is shown in Fig. 4. The position of the hook 40 is controlled by a relatively weak spring 42 which is fastened to the plate 25 at 43 and bears against that portion of the hook which is adjacent its recess 40a; and by a relatively strong spring 44 which is fastened to plate 25 at 45 and bears against the curved portion of the hook surrounding the recess 40a. As the spring 44 is stronger than the opposing resilient element 42, the hook will normally tend to pivot in the direction aea saa of arrows 46 and will engage the pin 39 to hold the roller 18 in retracted position away from the pivoting apices 34 and 37 of the keeper 17. The swinging door is then free to close immediately upon release by the action of the mechanism in hinge housing 10.

To render the spring 44 inactive and to thus permit roller 18 to return into operative positiorn an eccentrically mounted cam 47 is provided between the hook 40 and the spring 44, which extends through the cover plate 11 of the hinge housing (see Fig. 1) and is controlled by an external lever 48 which may rotate the cam 47 to the extent permitted by a limit pin 49. By moving the lever 48 into its extreme position shown in Fig. 1, the cam 47 is moved into the dot-dash position 47' to retract the spring 44 into the position 44'. The hook 40- is then acted upon only by the weaker spring 42 and consequently moves into the position 40' away from the pin 39 to release the roller 18.

A modification of the system of Fig. 4 is shown in Fig. 5. The hook 50 which is pivotally attached to the plate 25 by a pin 51, has a projection 52. Pin 51 rotates with the hook 50. A J-shaped spring 53 has the free end of its longer leg inserted into a bore in the projection 52, and the free end of its shorter leg inserted into the pivot pin 51. The spring also passes through a rotatable member 54 which extends from the housing 10 of the hinge through the upper plate 11 and is controlled by an external lever (not shown) in a manner analogous to that shown in Fig. 1. In the position shown in Fig. 5, the hook 50 is held away from the pin 39, and the roller is free to reciprocate toward and away from the keeper 17, as is shown in Fig. 2. However, if the member 54 is turned for 90 in the direction of arrow 55, the spring 53 bears against the projection 52 of the hook and pushes it toward the pin 39. When the roller 18 is pushed back by the moving keeper, the pin 39 moves toward right and the hook 50 comes down under the influence of spring 53 to receive the pin 39 in its recess 59a and thus inactivate the hold open device.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent 1. A checking floor hinge for double acting swinging doors having a housing and a spindle rotatably mounted in said housing, a hold open device comprising, in combination, a trapeziform keeper rigidly attached to said spindle and located Within said housing, said keeper having a pair of apices, a roller in said housing opposite and spaced from a portion of said keeper intermediate said apices, means for yieldably urging said roller in a radial direction toward said spindle, and means for limiting the movement of said roller in said direction, said roller being in the path of said apices of said keeper and engaging same when said spindle is rotated for approximately degrees in either direction by the swinging door.

2. The hold open device according to claim 1, further including an elongated rod-like member, a yoke at one end of said rod-like member for rotatably receiving said roller, and a frame for slidably receiving said rod-like member with said yoke extending in a direction radially of said spindle, said means for limiting the movement of said roller in said radial direction being a retaining member attached to the other end of said rod-like membed exteriorly of said frame, and said means for yieldably urging said roller in said radial direction being a resilient element in said frame bearing against said yoke.

3. The hold open device according to claim 2, further including a pin attached to said yoke, a hook pivotally attached to said frame for engaging said pin when pivoted in one direction, a first relatively strong spring supported on said frame for urging said hook into engagement with said pin, a second relatively weak spring attached to said frame for urging said hook away from engagement with said pin, and rotatable cam means supported by said frame adjacent said first spring for moving same away from said hook in one position, and for permitting engagement of said first spring with said hook in the other position thereof.

4. The bold open device according to claim 3, wherein a portion of said cam means extends from said housing, and a lever is attached to said portion for rotating same.

5. The hold open device according to claim 2, further including a pin attached to said yoke, a hook, a pivot pin rotatable with said hook and being rotatably attached to said frame, said hook being adapted to engage said pin when pivoted in one direction, a spring having a first extremity anchored in said hook at a point distant from said pivot pin, and a control member rotatably attached to said frame, said spring being attached to said control member at a point distant from said first extremity thereof, whereby said hook is pivoted into engagement with or away from said pin by said spring when said control member is rotated.

6. The hold. open device according to claim 5, wherein said spring is of J-shape and the second extremity of said pin is anchored in: said pivot pin.

7. The bold open device according to claim 5, wherein said control member extends from said housing, and a lever is attached thereto for rotating same. I

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

